Duplass brothers settle down with Searchlight

4:00 AM PST 12/10/2008
by
Steven Zeitchik
,
AP

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Fox Searchlight is greenlighting an intergenerational comedy written and directed by indie darlings Jay and Mark Duplass.

The studio is in talks with Marisa Tomei, John C. Reilly and Jonah Hill to star in the film, which will center on a budding romance between a man (Reilly) and woman (Tomei) that the woman's son (Hill) attempts to foil. The project, which at one point was called "Safety Man," follows in the steps of such dramatic romantic comedies as "Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist" and Searchlight's own "500 Days of Summer."

The project is expected to begin production in first-half 2009.

The Duplass brothers landed on the map four years ago with "The Puffy Chair," which became a Sundance sensation and cemented them as part of the mumblecore movement. They subsequently landed deals with Universal and Searchlight.

Tomei is drawing awards attention for her role as a sympathetic exotic dancer in "The Wrestler," Reilly is starring in Universal's vampire pic "Cirque du Freak," and Hill has been cast in Ricky Gervais' directorial debut, "This Side of the Truth." (partialdiff)